


Half

by Onlyplatonicirl



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Emotional, F/F, Grief/Mourning, doesnt matter what it is, everything i write is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:13:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24331873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlyplatonicirl/pseuds/Onlyplatonicirl
Summary: Sapphire isn't doing very well.And neither is Ruby.
Relationships: Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	Half

**Author's Note:**

> this was for a class, they asked us to write 1,500 words of fanfiction and then we'd share it with the class. I didn't want to write about the utmv because I'm an embarrassed baby and no one knows about that fandom anyways, so i decided to do a more popular fandom.
> 
> I've only watched until season 3 sorry if their characterization sucks i don't know these characters to well lol.

“WHAT DO YOU  _ MEAN _ I CAN’T SEE HER?”

“It means, you two are going to have to stay apart for a while, and Garnet will have to be benched temporarily,” Pearl explained, purposefully not looking in Ruby’s direction. “Until I can figure out how Sapphire’s gem was misshapen and we can recover and stop any further erosion, a fusion could be very dangerous. She shouldn’t exhaust any of her abilities besides her default physical form. I know it’s a bit of an inconvenience, but I hope you understand that you two seem to be magnetically drawn to each other - you cannot risk accidentally fusing. She’s weak enough as it is, and needs to rest.”

“W-Well can’t you do something? Anything? I at least want to be there for her!”

“You know the only person with healing abilities is Steven.”

“STEVEN ALREADY LICKED HER AND IT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

“Which is the exact reason I don’t want anyone interacting with her until we find out what we can do to fix her. I’m afraid conditions like this may be contagious, not by virus but by contact. Gems don’t catch living viruses that humans are susceptible to, just as humans can’t be affected by gem ailments. Don’t worry about Sapphire, Steven will take good care of her. I’m sure she’ll be recovered in no time”

Ruby opened her mouth, but no words came out. They didn’t have to in order to show how she felt. Her face contorted in numerous expressions, her eyes sparking mini fires as her teeth grit together. The wooden floorboards beneath her began to sizzle and smoke. Steven was quick to pick her off the floor.

“As happy as I am to see you, you can’t set the floor on fire!” Steven pouted. He hummed as he carried the shrieking gem outside. Amethyst watched the scene from the couch, popping chips in her mouth.

“Wow…” she said, emptying the last crumbs into her mouth. Ignoring Pearl’s glare, she crumpled the bag and tossed it onto the floor, with no moves signaling that she would pick it up anytime in the next century. “Is she always like this?”

“Don’t be rude, Amethyst.” Pearl huffed, picking up her litter. “And there’s no need to be such a slob either.”

“Oh wow, thanks Pearl, I’ll never make another mess as long as I live. You’ve swayed me!” 

The taller gem didn’t bother answering, instead turning to go back upstairs and tend to the unconscious gem occupying Steven’s bed. “Why can’t you ever hold a single conversation?”  
“Uh, I just _tried_. You told me I was being rude and then yelled about my trash on the floor. I asked if Ruby’s always like this.”

“Number one, that’s still rude,” Pearl sighed from the floor above. “Number two, you know her just as well as I do so I don’t understand why you’re asking me. And number three, you know how deeply connected the two of them are. They can barely keep apart. You saw them while we were up against the other rubies - they could hardly look away.”

“...And almost cost us our victory…”

“Don’t even start with that.”

Unintelligible screaming could be heard outside on the beach, and a small explosion lit up the windows. A few seconds passed, and there was no more carnage.

Pearl was silent for a moment before her eyes went lidded.

“Also sand isn’t highly flammable.”

\----------~*~*~----------

“Ruby, hey, I-”

“DON’T-” The other gem began, quickly cutting herself off. Her fingers grabbed fistfuls of her own hair, and despite pulling on it as hard as she could, it didn’t come out. If she were human, she would have made herself bald at that point. The sand below her was glowing orange and as much as Steven wanted to pick her up in an embrace, he didn’t want third-degree burns all over his body. So he elected to keep his distance.

It was a gorgeous day in Beach City, like almost every day. One of the best parts of Beach City was that the weather was always wonderful, but today seems especially beautiful. He couldn’t quite place how, but the sun seemed to be brighter and the clouds seemed to sparkle in the sky, looking like bubbly marshmallows with rainbow trim. The sand glittered under the beams of light, and the ocean, a liquid aquamarine, lapped lazily at the beach, eroding it grain by grain.

Steven looked back to Ruby to find her no longer parading around angrily but curled up in a ball. A few more seconds of observation and it was clear she was shaking. All her anger seemed to have burned up rather quickly, because unlike in the Keystone Motel, this anger had been a mask for grief.

No longer sizzling hot to the touch, Steven slowly approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder, relieved to find his palm sans blisters. Ruby did not react to the touch.

“Ruby, I-”

“Just stop,” she said, cutting him off. Her head was too big to fit comfortably in the crook of her arms, which Steven found somewhat amusing. But he smartly chose to hold his tongue.

“I know what you’re going to say, and it won’t help.”

Steven gently took a seat next to her. “Well uh, I know you don’t have future vision. Maybe you don’t know what I’m going to say.”

“...” She raised her head just a hair, enough to where her eyes were visible. They were glassy and inflamed. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks. She took another breath, the act sending her small body shuddering.

“...What are you going to say.”

“I was going to say that I think that she’ll be okay, and I know it will be hard being apart and not being Garnet, but we can just take it one step at a time, yeah? Me and you can do lots of fun stuff while Sapphire heals, like uh… we could paint pictures together, we could take rides on Lion, we could get donuts, or maybe we could even-”

“Maybe I am Sapphire,” said Ruby, standing up. Steven abruptly cut off as Ruby still hadn’t met his gaze. Her next words were mumbled. “Because that’s exactly what I thought you would say.”

She turned to walk away, and Steven got to his feet once more, dusting the sand off his pants.

“Ruby! _Ruby!”_ He called her name many more times, but she didn’t respond, and kept walking. “Wait, don’t leave! When Sapphire gets better-”

Ruby stopped in her tracks. 

“Well what if she  **DOESN’T!** ”

The sheer force of the scream sent a spray of sand from around her. Steven wasn’t quick enough to shield his eyes, and he coughed and rubbed at his eyes furiously. When he felt confident that they wouldn’t burn, he opened them back up, to see an infuriated Ruby standing a few meters away.

Tears were cascading down her cheeks, causing them to smoke and sizzle. Only a few survived to collect on her chin and drip down into the sand, which was quickly turning molten once again.

“What if she doesn’t, Steven? Did you ever consider THAT!? I have never spent a day in my life without Sapphire! Before I even knew I loved her I was created to guard her against all harm and DIE for her. The only reason I exist is because of her, and even though we have gotten rid of that mentality of superior and inferior beings I still can’t deny that it’s part of my nature to view myself has HERS. DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?” Her voice was ticking up with every word, bouncing off the canyons. Steven took a step back in fear.

“I would still HAPPILY shatter myself to save her. I’d do it with a SMILE on my FACE but it’s NOT supposed to be like this! I LOVE HER. I’M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT AND LOVE HER, AND SHE LOVES ME, AND I STILL DON’T KNOW WHY. GARNET IS A SYMBOL OF OUR BOND AND WITHOUT SAPPHIRE, GARNET WILL  _ DIE _ . DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, WE’RE TWO HALVES OF A WHOLE, AND I WOULD LITERALLY IMPALE MYSELF FOR HER, YET HERE SHE IS SLOWLY GROWING WEAKER AND WEAKER AND I  **_CAN’T EVEN DO MY ONE JOB IN THIS WORLD TO PROTECT HER.”_ **

“...”

“...”

Ruby collapsed to her knees. The sand surrounding her was pure molten, her feet submerged in the fresh lava. Her tears were falling too fast to be evaporated, and her arms fell weakly to the sides.

“I can’t… I can’t lose her.”

Steven swallowed. He didn’t even know where to begin. All of his condolences would be lies, and they both knew it. Her condition didn’t make it seem like she would be able to recover.

Ruby looked up, sobbing, every exhale another pained cry.

She wanted nothing more than to set the world ablaze, but she was just one Ruby.

And what could a singular Ruby do, all by herself?


End file.
